Fresh off the success of taking an 80s version of a Stephen King novel to cinematic triumphs, i.e. It, another one of the prolific author’s decade of decadence page to screen efforts is doing the same. Pet Sematary has arrived in theaters with Chappaquiddick star Jason Clarke and Amy Seimetz portraying the mom and dead who move their kids from the city of Boston to the “quiet” woodsy streets of rural Maine.
Paramount Pictures is certainly hoping that audiences turn out in droves for their update to an 80s King classic much like the masses did for Warner Bros.’ killer clown flick. Quality-wise, how does it rank? Although they make a massive change in the storyline from the King novel and the 1989 film, I didn’t get the same sense of cinematic urgency that was produced by the first film that starred Dale Midkiff and Denise Crosby’s as the parental units. The children of the first film, Miko Hughes (as Gage) and Blaze Berdahl (as Ellie) made a bit more of an emotional mark than Hugo and Lucas Lavoie did as Gage and Jeté Laurence did as Ellie. But the 2019 Pet Sematary does a better bit of terror inducing tremors from its audience with that huge moment that catapults our story from haunting grief to haunting horror. As teased in the latest Pet Sematary trailer, we learn that Ellie is the one who perishes in the street in front of their rural home as opposed to Gage in the original. Why that matters is that Laurence, as a slightly older thespian than her onscreen brother, is able to elicit more scares as the return from the dead little girl in her emotional toolbox than a truly infantile actor was able to achieve in the 1989 film.
Overall, though, there were more leap out of your seat scares in the original film. Yet there is something about this new version that hits the viewer more personally than director Mary Lambert was able to achieve in the first one. The performances, all the way around, are much more riveting than what we received three decades before. Perhaps why each works in the way it does is because King himself penned the screenplay in 1989 (thus why we had more scares) and in 2019 the story from Matt Greenberg and Jeff Buhler employs more of an emotional pull.
The performances of Clarke and Seimetz are largely the reason why the emotive resonance is so off the charts this time around. Losing a child is a hell worse than any other that a parent could endure. In the 2019 Pet Sematary, that is painted with a richer brush verbally and through our leads’ performances. There is also the contribution of John Lithgow. His Jud is more of what I expected when reading the King book all those decades ago. His folksy demeanor towers over Fred Gwynne and what he gave us as Jud. The former star of The Munsters was impeccably cast for what that King screenplay asked of its next-door neighbor. Whereas in the new version of the film, Lithgow completely and utterly understands that this is a different animal all together. As such, Lithgow needs to present his facts to the family now living next door about “the woods” out there in a way that is enticing (to the kids) and something the adults want to avoid like the plague. I have always been an enormous appreciator of the former star of 3rd Rock from the Sun and this is a role he sank his teeth into more entertainingly, enthrallingly and enlighteningly than anything he’s done since making his mark in the few minutes he had to light up Terms of Endearment.
Pet Sematary 2019 directors Kevin Kölsch and Dennis Widmyer could not have a better command of the source material. Their work on this film recalls what Andy Muschietti achieved with It back in 2017. Producers went through an exhaustive search on both projects and each time they found the most qualified (tone-wise and visual-wise) helmer that should ensnare audiences in large numbers. Both books possess a legion of fans whose utter adoration for King’s written word borders on obsessive. When It was released, and it scored tons of critical and box office love. It is the kind of thing, in King lovers’ circles, that word got out that It was the worthiest of experiences and it catapulted the film to massive success. I predict the same type of response to Pet Sematary. Since it debuted at SXSW, the buzz has been on the positive side and I suspect that will translate to box office greenery. Will it do as well as It? I doubt it, and there is one reason why—Shazam!
Clarke is one of the most underrated actors working today. What he achieved in as Edward Kennedy in Chappaquiddick was sublime. He has steadily been working magic for years now and with the (predicted) success of Pet Sematary, hopefully legions more will discover the Australian actor’s magical command of his craft. His motivation when his daughter senselessly perishes is tattooed on his face. As soon as her little grave is lowered into the ground, every single soul in the theater knows exactly what is going to happen … all because it is telegraphed on his face. Clarke emits those emotions in a way that is exquisite. His titanic talent has grabbed the viewers by the lapels and will not be releasing you until you are leaving the theater and heading to your car! Seriously, one might still be mulling over his character’s actions weeks after experiencing the King horror show. That speaks legions about not only the actor’s talent, but also his ability to transcend the medium and allow the viewer to live vicariously through his actions. Given that this is a horror movie, that’s a tricky achievement.
Seimetz’s performance will break your heart. Her mother has experienced the most devastating of losses and we feel it to our bones. When her husband re-introduces her to her daughter and asks her, “Hug your dead daughter,” the goosebumps will arrive en masse. How conflicted is she? She buried her child. That chapter has closed. Yet its emotional aftershocks will continue for years and years. But then, this girl that looks like her child, talks like her child and essentially is her child saunters towards her for a hug. Seimetz’s response is nothing short of sheer terror. We can feel it in our heart, and it elevates the horror that anchors the Pet Sematary experience in such a way that is hard to recover from. The thing is, these raw emotions are so palpable that I personally, do not want to recover from it. I want the emotional anvil that is King’s latest screen adaptation to wash over me for the foreseeable future.
The film meanders, but only for a few minutes here and there. When the second act evolves into the third, some tightening of the screenplay might have aided it. Then again, it is in many ways a welcomed moment to catch one’s breath and arm yourself emotionally for the final third of the film. Widmyer and Kölsch know their King and the way the horror master utilizes scares to underscore the emotional ebb and flow of his characters is a difficult one to capture on the screen. These two helmers can bank our feelings and cull a collective response from the audience on command in such a manner that leaves us with a rich tapestry of visual imagery and emotional explosiveness. No easy task.
Grade: B+